So I finally received the Peerless BM-5001 ceiling mount, and now I have everything I need: ceiling mount, projector (optoma hd20), 100" elite screen, receiver, blu-ray player, recommended throw distance from the optoma and projector central websites... So where do I go from here?

Where do I start? I have sites saying put the screen up first but that can't be right can it? how will i tell the offset? The projector central website doesn't take the ceiling into consideration when calculating the numbers for offset does it?

Also, I don't have a stud in the ceiling at the recommended throw distance... What then?

Am I over-thinking it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

sorry that should read: "projector central site doesn't take the *dimensions* of the ceiling *mount* into consideration..."

when I first mounted my projector many years ago, I think I beamed an image on the blank wall to get an idea of how big of a screen to build. If I recall, I placed it at a distance near the smaller end of the zoom range, so I could always soom the image bigger. Many use this to zoom out the black bars of 2.35 movies when using a 16:9 screen. In my case my screen is 2.35 since most movies are in this format, and my anamorphic lens gets rid of the black bars without losing quality.

Thanks! I think I'll go with mounting the projector first... only problem is I already have the screen so I guess I'll just have to go with trial and error using some educated guesses! yikes!

you should be able to look at the specs "throw distance" to get an idea of how far back to go, and experiment on a table or latter before you make it permanent. My Sanyo is 13ft back, but it is what they call a short throw projector.

There are a couple of lines of thought for projector distance.

The closer the projector to the screen the brighter the image since you will have to zoom the image out farther. The farther the projector from the screen the more dim the image. OTOH the farther the projector the better contrast and image clarity you will get especially at the edges of the screen. IMO though you won’t likely notice the better image clarity unless you are using your system as a computer monitor like I do.

The projector central calculator is only and estimate of how to place your projector as Randy said your best bet is to experiment with location. However, be careful not to move your projector around while the bulb is hot, there is probably a warning about this in your manual.

I ended up putting my projector at 19 feet which is way out of the optimal range for the Projector Central Calculator because my room is completely black so I don’t need as much brightness and improved contrast and image clarity for reading computer text is more important to me. Also it keeps the projector as far away as possible allowing me to use high altitude mode so the fan runs faster and keeps the bulb cooler but I still can’t hear it because of the distance.

Also as Randy stated there is the zoom factor in dealing with different image ratios that may also be effected if you put the projector at the extreme ends of it zoom range.

Got it! Thanks guys! I'll let you know how it works out and post pics when it's done.

Okay, so I have the screen and the projector set up, but I have a question about the image on the screen... when I pop in a dvd, the top-menu uses the whole 100" of the screen.. but when I press play there are 2 horizontal black bars as the movie seems to play in 16:9.

is there any way I can make it so it uses the whole screen?? What's the sense of having such a big screen if I can only use some of it?? lol. I'm sure it's a setting, but can't figure out whether it's the hd20, the player or both.

thanks guys!

Have you tried other “16:9” or 1.78:1. Some movies look like they will be 1.78:1 but are actually 1.85:1 which is wider and will appear narrower vertically to fit on the same size screen thus giving small horizontal bars above and below the screen. When you put in a 2:35:1 they get even bigger. Also movies will often have a 1.78:1 or 1.85:1 menu while the feature is actually in 2.35:1.

Try another couple movies and see if they all have the bars after the menu.

The aspect ratio question has been talked about often in the past. Below are the most common AR's, with 1.33, 1.78, 1.85, and 2.35, being the ones you will most likely be using. I assume you are using a 16:9 projector and a 16:9 screen.

So, if the movie you are watching is 2.35 (look on the back of the dvd cover) you will get black bars top/bottom. The only way around this is to zoom the image larger than your screen, use one of the newer projectors with automatic scaling, or use an anamorphic lens in combination with a scaler.

If your DVD is 1.85 (very common also) or if your watching HDTV, the AR's are very close and you should not have any black bars on the top and bottom.

1.33 material will have black bars on the sides.

What about Cinemascope or Cinerama?

In today's standard cinemascope is 2.35 or 2.39. The old cinemascope (films upto 2.66) went obsolete I believe back in the year I was born.

Hey Randy... I was taking a look at your website.. what are you using to hold up your center channel? I looked and looked for something like that, but no luck.

Just some cheap L shaped shelf brackets from Menards (like Home Depot, Lowes). The ones I picked have a black snap on cover.

If you look at the pictures of my surrounds, it is the same bracket.

Nice! I'll have to use that for one of my surrounds! Thanks for the tip. Your left surround looks tilted downwards - is it? If so how did you go about it? With a spacer?

As I am investing in the 180 very soon, I think I'll go with the brackets for now... but I'll buy the 180 stand (unless someone has some ideas on a safe way to put it on the wall that they'd like to share! I would think that it's a lot to ask brackets to hold up 57lbs, no?)

There are shelf brackets out there rated to over 100lbs each. You just have to look for them. They have a supporting arm that makes it look like a triangle.

I wouldn't consider mounting the VP180 without a shelf to support the weight in the front.

my Q's are not angled downward, I assume the picture just made it look that way. The bottom driver is 7ft off the floor, the speakers are attached to a boxed in area the hides the heating/cooling runs.

Randy drinks whenever he photographs his speakers.

I wish I had 10% of your equipment.

What do you (and presumably Joyce) know that the rest of us don't?

That even 10% is enviable.

Ok perfect, that's what I was thinking. I guess I'll use the brackets and a shelf but where in god's name do I find a shelf that's 40"x20" lol! guess I'm off to the local lumber store!

Randy,

what size L-bracket did you get for the q8? and how did you hook it up. Thanks!